My wife and I were returning from Pennsylvania this past weekend, when I saw a license plate that read Ask12B1. That got me thinking in two different directions.  The most obvious was the fact that our language is changing.  Some may claim it is deteriorating, others say it is becoming outmoded.  But, in reality, it is simply evolving–as all languages have since the beginning of time.

I have had a hard time keeping up with the current crop of new words and acronyms that seem to change almost daily.  Remember, I’m still one of those guys who doesn’t even own a cell phone.  I do, however, have a small presence on Facebook, Twitter, and this website, so I’m not totally archaic.  Seeing what people do to the English language in the name of speed and convenience is sometimes scary.

But the license plate also got me thinking about what it actually meant. …